Surf Fishing Report 2 4 2017--Be Patient it's Still Good!

Surf Fish Report 2/4/2017

Despite the chill in the air, rain and huge surf, fishing is still good in a few protected spots. Today, we have quite a bit of early morning wind and a midsized swell from the west. We are between storms now (expecting some wind and rain again Monday) but it looks like mid next week we might have an extended stretch of sunshine, small swells and offshore winds. That's sure to make surf fishing pick up.

Santa Barbara is just one of the beaches that's dealing with debree. Both in the water and on the beach the outfall from the last rains has made fishing a bit tough. The positive in both Santa Barbara and Ventura has been the great perch fishing for slabs. I received reports from East Beach in SB, Emma Woods in Ventura and at Hollywood Beach of some great perch fishing for anglers using, Gulp! Bloodworms and Lucky Craft and other 3"-5" hardbaits in the surf.

Malibu and Santa Monica still have good surfperch fishing from the Santa Monica pier to Topanga Canyon. Although I have not received any reports you can be sure that fishing is also good at Leo Carrillo. This is a great time of year to go there for walleye, barred and an occassional calico surfperch. The biggest news coming out of the Malibu area was the catch of several white seabass. Although the fish were just short of legal it is a good sign that the fish we saw earlier this year being caught in Ventura are possibly spreading down the coast. It won't be long before someone catches a legal in the surf.

Orange County (and Southern LA county) take tops for fishing again this report. All the beaches have been covered with debris, but between the mess there has been some good fishing. The eye-popping catch of the week was a handful of big corbina inside the Long Beach Harbor. This time of year big corbina and spotfin swim inside the harbors to find food and shelter. Look for them in areas like Long Beach and LA Harbor, Los Alamitos Bay, Huntington Harbor, Newport Harbor, Dana Harbor, Mission Bay, etc...you get the point--just about any harbor or protected bay. To be most successful catching these fish be sure to use what they eat inside the bay. Ghost shrimp or whole bloodworms presented on the carolina rig (with a very light sinker) will produce the most bites.

San Diego had no reports come my way with the exception of a halibut in the bay and good perch fishing around the Carlsbad power plant outfalls.

What to look for this week:
Per my tide calendar :-) This upcoming week has some very big tides starting today for the next two weeks. Full moon hits on the 10th. So, over the next week we will see our widest tide swings. Good times for both fishing and catching bait. I also like to walk the beach at one of these low tides to check out and mark structure so I may go back later and fish there.

Water temps have been around 55 in SB and 59 in SD. This cooling is great to see as it will help surfperch fill in all along the beaches. A fading storm system today will be replaced by another passing storm Monday. As the week progresses we will see a building high, light offshore winds and small westerly surf. All goods news that will help the beaches set up for some great fishing next weekend. One last suggestion: Next weekend we'll have some supermoon action (which signals fish to feed a night) so if I was going fishing late next week/weekend I would start later in the afternoon when fish are hungry again.